Chapter 14

The Dykeenies: Clean Up Your Eyes

"How'd it go?" Garrus asks, leaning against the fridge with a bottle of Tupari grasped casually in his right talon as Melanis and I storm into the house. "You get some good information?"

"Fine," both of us lie, at the same time. Normally I'd stop to talk to Garrus, but I'm not in the mood. At all. It's less about what Melanis did to that salarian…more the fact that Garrus sent me into that when he knows my feelings about violent interrogations. It's almost like a betrayal, and seeing him standing there without a care in the bloody world is pissing me off. I just want to go back to my bunk, lie back and try and forget all this stuff happened. The whole thing reminds me of losing it with Saleon, in some twisted way, and I don't need that coming back to haunt me.

The female turian strides off towards her room on the ground floor, from the looks of things still fuming from what happened. We didn't talk at all on the way back, not even a word, and I'm not sure how quickly things are going to improve on that front. I think it's more than just frustration at me being 'naïve', though…somewhere along the line back there, I definitely touched a nerve. Too bad I've got no fucking clue what did it.

I ascend the stairs up to the sleeping quarters two at a time, stealing a quick glance backwards to take in Garrus' bemused expression at the total lack of response. I'm tempted to say something to him, but words escape me as I turn my back and move toward the bunks. He knows exactly what he did, and silence here says more than words ever could.

The room is conspicuously empty as I walk in, but I don't pay it too much attention as I leap up to my bed, look up at the ceiling, close my eyes and take controlled breaths, trying to relax as best I can. I know we need information, that there's not really other way of getting it…I just don't like seeing it first hand. Hell, I don't like that we have to do it at all, but at least if it's out of sight it's out of mind.

God, that's terrible. I feel like a dick for just thinking that. As long as I'm not watching it happen, it's okay…that's such a shit excuse. But it's not like there's a choice. It's got to be done, and I'd rather not watch when the talons come out. As much as I don't like to admit it, Melanis made a good point about necessity outweighing what we'd all rather do. And I guess she's right. Maybe I am too naïve about all this stuff...but that's still not going to change my view that interrogation like that is wrong. I might not like it, but I'll live with it.

I'm still pissed at Garrus, though, for sending me in there. 'How'd it go'…he knew exactly how I'd react. I should've expected a test from Aria, but Garrus? That's not right.

"You know," a flanging voice says from the other side of the room, sounding amused, "when I asked how it went, I was hoping for something a bit more than a one word answer." I roll over to face the door, not returning the small 'smile' Garrus gives me by widening his mandibles. "Though I guess one word is better than none at all." Another silence. "Like now."

"Uh-huh," I mutter, rolling over to face away from him again. There's a thought niggling away in the back of my mind that I'm stropping like a ten year old, but I ignore it. I'm not really that angry at him, after all the time we've spent together and how close we are, but…I feel like he led me on. And considering I trust him more than anyone, that hurts.

"Look, I know that you don't like that type of interrogation," he sighs, walking around to the other side of the bunk so he can look me in the eye. "But I didn't want to keep you in the dark about it. You deserve to know every aspect of the operation here, the good stuff, and the parts I'm…not as proud of."

"You could've just told me," I reply, indignation in my tone. "Rather than send me out there to experience it first hand. That salarian got messed up, Garrus, and I just stood there and watched."

He shakes his head gently. "I know. But I needed you to see it."

"Why?" I shoot back, raising my voice before I even realise I'm doing it. "You want to turn me into Melanis, or something? Is that it?"

"No. I don't want you like that." Garrus' tone is firmer now, as is his expression. "But you have to see the reality around here, Ian. Just telling you about that kind of interrogation doesn't do it justice. This isn't C-Sec anymore, this isn't the Normandy. This is Omega, it's how things work, and you needed to see that so you can handle it." He pauses briefly to let the words sink in. "Can you handle it?"

I nod, reluctantly. "Yeah. I already told Melanis I can deal with the fact we're doing it. Just don't expect me to join in. And you should've been straight up with me about this."

"I know," he replies. "I'm sorry for that. But you needed to see what it's really like here."

I sit up in the bed, feeling my resentment towards him gradually slip away despite how much I'd like to be mad at him. Seeing Melanis do that did hammer home that whatever rules I'm used to have completely changed, and I'm going to have to adapt to that, like it or not. Which I don't. I thought Hull was bad, but this takes the sodding biscuit… "You don't even get good information through torture," I point out. Garrus opens his mouth to cut me off, but I keep going anyway. "I'm aware that it's the only thing we've got, but I'm just saying, people will invent anything to make the pain stop. You know that."

"That's why Grundan and Mierin went out too," he explains. "Whatever details you and Melanis got, we can check them with whatever they find. If they match up, we know we're onto something. Besides, with the reputation we're gaining, they might think we'll come back for them if they lie…" He leaves that hanging in the air, then chuckles. "Or something like that. Look, you don't have to go on any more interrogation missions. Some people are better suited to it than others, and it doesn't seem to be your forte."

"Believe me, I'm more than happy to leave that to Melanis," I sigh. "I don't like you sending me off there without being honest…but I guess it was for the best. It's been a reality check, anyway, so I should probably thank you for-"

"Don't thank me," Garrus says. "I lied to you."

"Just don't make a habit of it" I can't help a small smile forming on my face, and I slap him playfully on the shoulder. "Besides, I lied to you for years about my past for the same reasons you lied to me, and we're still friends, so I guess it's a little hypocritical for me to hold a grudge." The turian doesn't even crack a smile at that. Oops, lead balloon…"Too soon?"

"I don't like being reminded of that," he replies. "But we're being open now, that's the important thing." My mind immediately strays back to Sidonis when he says that, but I clamp down on it. Not until later. Shit, that reminds me of Tali and her father too…I need to try and get in contact with her at some point and explain the whole situation.

Wow. Ever since I got caught up with Garrus' crew, I've barely even thought about her. Weird…

The gradual drone of a shuttle suddenly whispers into the room, growing louder and louder with each passing second as Garrus and I look over at the window. The whisper becomes a mutter, the mutter a drone, then finally a roar as the Kodiak shoots past and begins to descend towards the house. Of course, the rest of the team are still out blowing up spaceports and the like…maybe I'll be able to get onto that again at some point. Especially after the conspicuous lack of infiltrating to do around here.

"That'll be the rest of them getting back," Garrus says, rising to his feet. "I'll go and see how everything went. When Grundan and Mierin get back, we can see how much information we have. Mirki'it doesn't have much time left."

"He pissed you off," I laugh. "Of course he doesn't. Archangel doesn't let criminals escape, right?"

The turian growls lightly as he heads towards the door. "You know I don't like that name."

"But it's so dramatic," I say sarcastically, grinning at his clear annoyance. "Makes you sound all heroic. When really you're just a grumpy turian who's a little too obsessed with public service."

"Very funny, Deadpool," he shoots back mockingly. "Makes you sound all badass, when really you're just a jumpy ex-cop who's got too smart a mouth for his own good."

I raise an eyebrow. "When did you turn into Wrex?" Garrus laughs at that, looking to the side shyly as he does, then back at me.

"Ian, I'm sorry about that interrogation. I shouldn't have-"

"Garrus," I interject, holding up a hand. "It's cool. Stop talking about it before I change my mind."

"Okay," he nods, sounding relieved. "Laet said he wanted to see you, by the way."

Hmm? I like seeing Laet…not just for his sparkling personality, but also the chance he's packing some new gadget. I always thought he was an armour specialist, but it would appear the man can do just about anything. "Did he say what it was about?"

"He insisted on keeping it secret, so he's probably come up with something," Garrus replies, rolling his eyes. "There'll be a briefing when Grundan and Mierin get back…do you want to get some drinks with the others after you're done with Laet?"

"I could do with that," I nod. It'd take my mind off things…the last thing I want is to sit alone brooding at the moment. "I'll take a look at what he's got, then see you all in the main room. Any chance you can get me a Tupari?"

The turian shakes his head. "No. Melanis has put everyone on shoot to kill orders if we so much as see you with a bottle. That reminds me to get myself one, though…"

"You're a dick."

"And you get cranky without your juice," he counters. "I'll get you some water for when you're back from Laet."

"Mmm, water," I say sarcastically, brushing past him on my way out of the door. "Delicious. I can hardly wait." Garrus laughs as I leave, and I can't help cracking a smile myself. I might not agree with the interrogation methods…but at least talking to Garrus let me get my head around it. He lied to me, but he did it for the right reasons.

Yeah. I can deal with that.

#########

I shoot Laet a broad grin as I walk into his workshop. "Q, what have you got for me?" The turian cocks his head to the side, eyes narrowed in a confused expression.

"Who's Q?"

"It's a James Bond reference," I shrug. "I guess you getting it was going to be a long shot."

"Who's James Bond?"

"Never mind," I sigh. "Garrus told me you had something to show me?"

Laet chuckles, turning around to begin rifling through storage containers. "You could just make a social visit, you know," he says, mock-offended. "Rather than demanding equipment the moment you walk through the door. I'm an artist, not a whore. A little respect does wonders, you know."

I raise an eyebrow at his back. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do," he replies, turning back around with some small, oval shaped items. I don't think they're grenades…because if they are, he's being awfully casual with explosives. "I'm not asking much." He adopts a new voice, accent clearly mocking mine, and actually doing a rather good job of it. "Oh, hello Laet, how're you doing?" Back to his normal voice. "I'm doing well, Ian, just slaving away so you're not killed horribly against overwhelming odds, little things like that…"

"Your English accent is amazing, I'll give you that much," I chuckle. "You never cared about this when you had your shop on the Citadel, though."

"That's because you were paying me on the Citadel," he points out.

"Laet, I appreciate you keeping me alive. How's that?" I adopt a teasing tone. "Are you still sad? Do you want a hug?"

He finally laughs at that, shaking his head. "Shut up. I'm tempted not to give you these now, but…ah, go on then. Catch." He lobs the six ovals at me before I can react, so I totally fumble it. One of them even smacks me in the forehead.

"Ow."

"Good effort," Laet says sarcastically, as I lean down and scoop them off up the floor, inspecting them closer. They're not that heavy, very thing, barely even noticeable in my hands, but look like they're designed to clip onto armour. "Can you guess what they are?"

"My psychic powers are a bit off today, so just tell me."

"No need to get snippy," he says. From the sounds of it, he likes winding me up…then again, so does everyone. "They're grav-clips."

"Oh, wow," I say, looking down at them again. "That's really cool, Laet, useful. I've always wanted some-"

"You have no idea what they are, do you?"

"Not a fucking clue."

Laet sighs. "I'll put this in basic terms, just for you." I narrow my eyes at him, but he ignores me. "They can let you attach yourself to walls, ceilings, climb around on them. Useful for hiding, scaling buildings, all the stuff you infiltration types are supposed to do."

"Like Spiderman?" The turian looks confused yet again. "If you didn't get James Bond, I dunno why I expected you to get that. So, do I just clip these onto my armour and start wall-running?" If this turns into some Inception shit where I'm running upside down on roofs and stuff it's gonna be awesome…

"No. Running requires small jumps into the air, so the clips wouldn't be touching and you'd fall off." Oh, yeah…I probably should've thought of that. "You've got a brain, Ian, try using it. Crawling is probably your best plan, but you can theoretically stay attached so long as at least one of the clips is touching. Put them on the soles of your boots, the knees and palms of your suit, and you're sorted."

I shake my head. "That's all well and good…so what's the catch?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that," he mutters. "They run off your suit's power source. It's mostly negligible, but if you put too much strain on them you might end up overloading your own shields, so keep an eye on how much power they're using. High-gravity environments will drain power quick, as will anyone playing with gravity nearby."

"That's not so bad," I shrug. "Just jump off the wall if the meter gets low."

"You can't really 'just jump off' if you're scaling a ten story building," Laet says, then takes in the worried expression I feel forming on my face. "I shouldn't have said that…look, just be careful with them. Make sure you've got enough power before you try anything stupid. Oh, and watch for biotics."

"Why?"

Laet tightens his mandibles against his face. "Well…if they detect the grav-clips, they can reverse their power exponentially."

I shake my head. "In English, please?"

"All you need to know is that they can turn your feet, knees and hands into paste if they mess with them right," the turian says glumly. "So, uh…watch out for that."

"This invention gets worse by the second, you know that?" I say. "This opens me up to at least two more ways of being horribly killed. That's two too many."

"I'm sure you can judge when to use them," he says idly. "They might be useful in some situations. Besides, you're getting these for free, so think of yourself as a test subject. I can refine them and make changes if needs be."

I take the clips, chuckling lightly to myself. Scaling walls does sound worth the risk, even in the prospect of parts of my body being turned to mush is…unappealing. "I'll test them, then. For science."

"Yep," he nods. "I knew I could count on you. Now, don't destroy them or lose them, because they're expensive. And if you get captured by the mercs, they've got a self-destruct system so they can't fall into the wrong hands. You can sync it with your suit."

I gawp at him. "You want me to attach something that can blow up onto my suit?"

"You're fine with grenades," he points out. "Hypocrite."

"Yeah, but…I mean, if I self-destruct these when I'm captured, it's gonna kill me."

"Then you don't fall into the wrong hands either," Laet shrugs. "It's perfect."

I just stare at the turian's serious expression for a few seconds. "And to think I was enthusiastic about this at first. Can you give me any training with these?"

"I'm briefing Melanis about them soon, she'll run you through it," he replies. Great…because she's exactly the person I want to spend a few hours with after out last chat. Then again, I suppose we have to start working things out somewhere. I'll just bumble around awkwardly during the training with her and she might apologise to me out of pity. Even though she made a lot of points I agree with. Damn.

"You want to get a drink before then?" I ask. "The rest of the crew just got back from…whatever it is they're doing, so if you're interested in coming up for once..."

He nods. "Alright. It's always nice to hear how we've killed the mercs this time, anyway." I raise an eyebrow at that. Laet always seemed quite calm and laid back on the Citadel. Not the kind of person I'd expect to see on Omega, of all places, helping us to damage and kill mercenaries. Garrus said everyone had a personal reason, and I think I know Laet well enough to at least bring it up.

"You're awfully keen on this whole killing mercenaries business," I comment, folding my arms and shifting my weight more onto my right leg. "Doesn't seem like you."

The turian looks at me curiously, clicking his mandibles together lightly. "I thought that was the point of our whole operation here? Garrus asked me to come along, anyway, as a favour to a friend, and I didn't want to turn him down."

"True," I reply, thinking it through. "But you must have owed him a hell of a lot to come all the way to Omega with him, put yourself through this place. Garrus is like my brother, and even I didn't just up and leave with him straight away. Plus, I know you lost the N7 contract, but you'd still be making a nice bit of money for yourself on the Citadel." Laet stares down at the floor uncomfortably, making me stop briefly. Crap, I'm treating this like he's a suspect in C-Sec, and I'm tearing through his story…I should probably back off a bit. "We shouldn't talk about this if you don't want to. Hell, I shouldn't have even brought it up…sorry. I'm just naturally inquisitive about finding the truth. Makes me a good detective. And a shit friend."

Laet chuckles at that, looking back up at me. "It's fine. I should have expected you to work out there's more to this than loyalty to Garrus, anyway." He sighs, then leans back against the wall. "It's not a big story. Revenge, believe it or not."

"I didn't think you were like that," I mutter, then realise how insensitive the words are. The turian seems to agree, though, nodding his head slowly.

"Neither did I. I had a younger brother, Darrael. He'd only been on his compulsory service for two months, and I know he didn't want to stay on any longer than he had to. His ship was out in the Terminus Systems when they needed an emergency refuel. The last report from the ship was that they were touching down on Omega for fuel. After that…it just disappeared, crew and all. Darrael was missing in action, presumed dead."

I just stand there, unsure what to say. That's awful… "Why didn't the turian government do anything?"

"There wasn't any solid proof of what had happened," Laet explains, angry edge to his voice. "The ship had just disappeared, and without evidence they weren't prepared to act in a way that might provoke a war with the Terminus Systems. The report on the incident got buried, but I still had some contacts in the military from my time there. I wasn't much of a soldier, but I knew how to network." He chuckles humourlessly. "I found out where the ship disappeared. At first, I didn't know what to do, then Garrus came and asked for my help on Omega. I saw the opportunity to look into what had happened…and I took it. I didn't expect Darrael to be alive, but I had some hope. And at the very least I'd get to know what had really happened."

"Did you?"

"Yeah," he nods. "It was easy to find out. Eclipse mercs were bragging all over the station about obtaining a turian military ship, the same time my brother disappeared. All its crew were either missing or killed by Eclipse. That was all I needed to hear. The mercs killed my little brother, and I might not be able to fight, but...well, it gives me plenty of reason to help out against them."

Wow. I was expecting a story, but…not that. Especially considering how light-hearted Laet actually is, when he's been keeping this bottled up the whole time. "Laet, I'm so sorry, I had no idea-"

"I know you didn't," he says, then chuckles. "That's why you asked. I just thought you had a right to know, but please, don't dwell on this. What's in the past should stay there, and I don't want to think about it any more than I have to."

"Of course," I nod firmly. "I can understand that."

"Good." We just stand in our positions awkwardly for a few seconds, before he clears his throat. "Well, we should probably go and get those drinks. After dropping that bombshell on you, getting drunk seems like a really good idea right now."

I laugh with him at that, as we both head towards the door. He's using his good humour to distract himself from what he told me, and I can't blame him for that. And if he doesn't want to talk about it anymore, then I'm not going to force him to. "Laet," I say, just as we reach the door. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"Trusting me with that. You didn't have to."

He shrugs. "It was good to get it off my chest for a bit. I need to ask you something, though…apart from Garrus, I don't think the rest of the crew know about Darrael, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell them."

"Don't worry about it," I say reassuringly. "I can keep a secret."

"Thanks," he replies, sounding relieved. "Come on, then. Let's see how drunk I can get before Garrus starts the briefing."

Amen to that.

#######

"Perfect timing!" Garrus says, as Laet and I walk into the room. The entire team seems to be assembled around the couches, drinks already in hand as they look up at the two of us entering. "I was just about to page your omni-tools." A quick glance shows Mierin and Grundan in their seats, and I look apologetically over at Laet.

"So much for getting mortal," I chuckle. Everyone in the room looks at me questioningly, even Butler. "Drunk. Getting mortal means getting drunk where I'm from."

"Your medical records indicated you don't drink alcohol," Montague points out, as Laet and I sit down. Butler lobs the turian a bottle of some dextro-brew, then throws some bottled water over to me with a cheeky grin. Bastard… "The idea of you getting drunk seems unlikely, given your history."

"Aye, but Laet here is a totally different story," I grin. The more amicable members of the squad laugh at that, giving me a moment to look around the room. Or more specifically at Melanis, sat in her usual spot next to Montague. I catch the female turian's eye for a second, but she breaks off eye contact as soon as she realises I'm looking at her. Guess the interrogation isn't water under the bridge for her just yet.

Garrus holds up a hand for silence, drawing my attention away from Melanis and back to the matter at hand. "There'll be time for getting, uh, 'mortal' later on. After we've dealt with the Mirki'it situation. What did the intelligence gathering find?"

"We worked our way through a few dealers, lowlifes," Mierin explains on his and Grundan's behalf. "They all had their excuses for what they're doing for Mirki'it, but one location kept appearing with every person we asked. The old Supergiant Manufacturing building."

"We heard about that too," I interject. "Apparently Mirki'it repurposed it for red sand production. The place is guarded by the few troops he has, and mercenaries make up the rest of the numbers. The workers are addicts he keeps under control as slaves by providing their fix."

Mierin nods. "That's what we heard, too. If we're looking for his manufacturing base, I think we've found it."

"Good," Sidonis says firmly. "We can blow it sky fucking high." I catch Weaver smirking at that, as Garrus shakes his head. Hmm? I thought he'd be jumping at the chance to destroy this place!

"We can't do that," he says firmly. "No innocent casualties. That place is filled with slaves, and I'm not going to blow it up with them all in there."

"Their drug habit got them into that mess in the first place," Grundan says loudly. "If they get in the way of us stopping this bastard, then it's not our problem." I see Vortash nodding his head lightly in agreement. Aw, hell no!

"And maybe if we free them, they'll have a chance to get themselves out of the mess they got into initially," I point out.

The batarian grunts dismissively. "Sure. I bet half the people in there are your species. Keep looking out for your own, human." He spits out the last word like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. I can see Butler tensing across from me, as Garrus clicks his mandibles together loudly.

"This isn't up for discussion," he declares. "We need to get those slaves out before we destroy the place." I hear Grundan curse under his breath, leaning back into his seat, but the rest of the crew seem perfectly happy with letting him sulk. Which is ideal. Garrus says in Mass Effect 2 that their main rule was making sure there's no innocent casualties, and it's good to see most of the squad take that seriously. "Explosives are too risky, and they might execute slaves or put them in the firing line if we try rushing the factory."

"I think I can see where this is going," Melanis says, carefully avoiding my eye contact as she speaks up. "The infiltration team is going to have to go in there and liberate them, aren't we?"

"Try not to sound too enthusiastic," Garrus mutters sardonically. "But yes, that's how this is going to work. Once the slaves are out, the assault team can move in, take care of any remaining resistance, and…" he looks expectantly over at Sidonis.

"Blow it sky fucking high?"

"Exactly." Garrus looks over at me. "Time to see if that diet's paid off for you, Ian. You, Melanis and Mierin need to get those slaves out of there." Mierin looks even more nervous than usual at that news, and frankly I'm right with him on that. Given the slapstick farce that was my attempt at infiltrating a building back in C-Sec, understandably I'm a little cynical about this going exactly to plan. Then again, I wasn't trained for this sort of thing back then.

Melanis nods. "Understood." She's in charge on the infiltration squad, so it's sort of reassuring to see her jump into that role immediately. That said, given her mood with me at the moment, maybe she's not the best person to be taking orders from. If the phrase 'suicide mission only you can complete' comes up during this operation I'm going to be a bit suspicious. "We'll get our gear together and move out in an hour. We can work out our entrance when we get to the factory."

"Good," Garrus says, sounding satisfied as he rises to his feet and the rest of us follow suit. This is eerily reminiscent of briefings back on the Normandy…he really does emulate Shepard in so many ways now he's in charge. "I want everyone ready in an hour. Dismissed."

I stride off towards the bunks and my lockers, idly cracking my knuckles together as I go. Even if violent interrogation isn't what I signed up for, liberating slaves sure as hell is.

Time to go and be big damn heroes.

A/N: I'm back! It was a really good holiday, but man, the amount of stuff I've had bothering me irl has been unreal recently (and doesn't look like it's set to go any time soon, either). Ironically, I think I'm going to have more free time when I'm back at school…so the update rate might slow right down to once a week. Hopefully not, but I'd rather give advance warning in case it does.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that long overdue update! Bit of Laet backstory goodness there (could be relevant later, hmm?) Next up is a proper infiltration mission, as the Mirki'it plot arch begins to draw to a close (though we've still got a few chapters of it left, don't panic.)

Oh, and if you've got a spare moment, go and check out 'Mass Effect 2 – Friends in a Time of Dying' on YouTube by 211Shinobu. Seriously good tune and video for you Garrus/Shepard fans :-)

Bye!